Hi, I'm new so please let me know if there is a better place to ask this question. My finace and I just bought a house and the prvious owners had passed away and we were left many littel presents behind. One of these was several old trains. We are trying to determine if they are valuble or not, and we'd like to know more about them even if they aren't worth anything. They all seem to have "KB" or "KBN" marked on them and are made in Germany. I've attached a link to photos. Any help would be appreciated.
https://goo.gl/photos/VUfcPaZpWWNpvATBA
Artist15,
To The Forums!
Some info about Your find....also some collector info:
https://modeltraincollectors.wordpress.com/category/trains-kbn-germany/
A link to Your Photos:
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPPkZe9xCuCQbrFwvCC94dEufUnUUMEUw7iFG-9rdHnc8dE66mZfzGcHiqPfZ1Izw
You could also ask about them on The Classic Toy Trains Forums, CTT site...easy way to get there, is to scroll down to bottom of page and in the Black bar of Kalmbach Publishing Co., click on Classic Toy Trains and it will take You there.
Take Care!
Frank
EDIT: Link did not work to Your photos, for some reason. I'll try this one:
This one works:
Hey artist15!
Welcome to the forums!!!
Definitely go to the Classic Toy Trains forum. Your "little presents" are probably worth a lot more than you think, especially since they seem to be in relatively good condition. You likely won't get actual values on the Classic Toy Trains forum but they should be able to recommend someone who can.
Lucky you! Better than finding a racoon family in the attic!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
KBN stands for Karl Bub Nürnberg (Nuremberg) a German maker of tin plate toys of the late 1800´s and early 1900´s.
On one of the cars it say" Made in Bavaria" which is an indication that the production of this car predates 1914.
Unfortunately, the locos and cars are in a rather sad condition, so it is difficult to estimate the value of them. In mint condition they would fetch prices easily in the range of a new mid-sized car!
In any case, this is a valuable find, which should result in a sizeable amount of money when you find the right buyer.
Sir MadogUnfortunately, the locos and cars are in a rather sad condition,
Ulrich:
I'm not quite sure that I understand why you would say they are in "sad" condition. They definitely have some patina, but given their age I would say they are in pretty good shape. Mind you, the cab roofs do seem a bit low but perhaps that's they way they were made. Hopefully the roofs aren't squashed.
Dave,
collectors are a rather critical bunch. Anything below mint means sad in terms of value, not by the looks. They look pretty OK to me as well, but won´t fetch top prices.
To the OP - this is not something to sell through Ebay, you may want to have them appraised and auctioned by a renowned auctioning house with experience in tin plate toys of the early 1900´s.